Deaths caused by drug use are now at an average of 4.7 people per million in Türkiye, a number far behind other countries, the authorities said, attributing this development to the country’s commitment to counter-narcotic efforts.
Addressing an event earlier, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu noted that deaths directly linked to drug use were 941 in 2017, but that the number dropped to 270 in 2021.
The government has ramped up operations against drug dealers in recent years. According to the minister, this year, the country launched “uprooting” operations, simultaneous pre-dawn raids against dealers and conducted one operation almost every week in each province in Türkiye.
The country also stepped up border operations and checking at customs to prevent the entry of drugs into the country.
Family and Social Services Minister Derya Yanık, who accompanied Soylu at a workshop conducted in the capital Ankara, said they were working on an integrated system to monitor every stage of life for rehabilitated addicts and provide psychiatric and social support to prevent their access to drugs. She also vowed to help the addicts in starting a new life. The ministry, in cooperation with the Green Crescent, trained 300 staff who reached out to over 700,000 people in educating people about drug addiction.
Meanwhile, the country also seeks to restrict access to places that are often used by drug addicts. Abandoned buildings in urban settings are the popular hangouts, so the Interior Ministry has started razing them in recent years. Soylu said out of the 120,000 abandoned buildings across Türkiye, the government has demolished 88,000 buildings and the rest were restored.
The minister further said that given the fact that addicts are unable to use these places, they were now turning to parks and public places. In response, the ministry is installing more lights and check and control systems for easier detection of drug addicts.
Soylu noted that drug-related deaths were 35 in a million across the world, while it is an average of 16.7 people per million in Europe and 324 in a million in the U.S. He also highlighted that the drug use rate in Türkiye was 3.1%, compared to an average of 29% in European countries and 5.6% worldwide. He also lauded the decrease in the number of first-time users, which was 19,000 in 2019 and dropped to 14,000 in 2022.
